La Majia Pegaso / Pegasus Magic

by Terralicornio

2 - La Deskonfiansa / The Distrust

Author's Note:

If you fill ponies with love for their different, you will create friendship; if you fill them with hate, you will create the exact opposite. The pony society, just as ours, is like a grand barrel of gunpowder: you only needs a little match to create a grand explosion.

I want to thank you all who read and liked the last part. I am giving my best to make the story as good as I can. Feel free to comment what you think about it, your feedback is important a lot to me.

That's all, now stay with the story.

LA DESKONFIANSA

(THE DISTRUST)

Rich and Lemon were on the train, just shooting the breeze and wondering when it would arrive in Manehattan.

They were bored and tired, looking for something that could make the time in the train seem less tedious.

A group of earth ponies on the side chairs were complaining about their jobs:

“Damn it, man. Now that White Hooves is gone, my boss wants me to do his job too. And he doesn’t want to pay any extra coin for this, but if I don’t, I’m fired.

This job is driving me crazy. I always wake up before the rooster. When I sleep, it’s almost daytime… and all this for a pittance.”

“Tell me about it, one of my friends was fired two days ago because he forgot to call our boss ‘excellence’.

That guy worked there for about ten years, getting fired like that is a tremendous lack of respect.”

“Hello gentlestallions,” Rich said to the group, “I couldn’t help noticing your dissatisfaction with your jobs, and I think I can help.”

The group looked suspiciously at rich. Why would a pony that looks “important” cares about a group of “nobody”?

“I used to be like you: tired, depressed, sad, angry, et cetera,” - Rich sat down on one of their benches - “Until the time came when I said ‘enough’.

I convinced the other workers to make a riot to expel the head of the factory. If everything in the factory was done by us, so the entire factory belongs to us.

We kicked that snobbish unicorn out of the factory, and took everything that was rightfully ours. Now my friend and I work a lot less and earn a lot more.”

“And no authority went after you?” asked Gray Dust, one of the tired workers.

“They wouldn’t dare, we do an essential work for society. Furthermore, they have no reason to do that.

Our former boss is now poor, and I think you know from experience that the poor are invisible to the powerful.”

“You said your boss was a unicorn,” Another member of the group said, “What a coincidence, ours is also one.”

“Ours too.” Said another of the workers.

“It is not a coincidence,” Lemon said, “the unicorns have always done their best to exercise control over the other races.

Since the first multi-racial empires, unicorns were in the upper classes. And today is not different, they continue to step on earth ponies to remain at the top of the hierarchy.”

The conversation stopped when the train arrived at Station A in Manehattan. Lemon and Rich said goodbye to the group and got off the train.

“I guess these guys have a good point.” Gray Dust thought.

At the station, the two stallions were approached by an orange butler. “Excuse me, the two gentlestallions should be Filthy Rich and Lemon Juice, Master Gear sent me to welcome you here. Please, follow me.”

-----

“Did we arrive?”

“No.”

“Did we arrive?”

“No.”

“Did we arrive?”

“NO!!”

The whole pony car threw shade to the two unicorns and then returned to normal.

“There is an estimated time there on the panel, you don’t have to ask me all the time. Oh, wait, you were just trying to piss me off, right?”

“Uh huh” Pencil mocked

The train was arriving on the outskirts of Canterlot, inhabited mainly by earth ponies trying to make a living in the rich city.

After the Rainbow Factory’s shutdown and the CWC’s collapse, many factories in “normal” sectors suffered mass layoffs.

Although it does not seem, several sectors of CWC were operated on the ground by land ponies, as the pegasi were doing manual labor outside.

Unemployed, many earth ponies used their savings to build houses around Canterlot and, thus, try to get a job there. The majority either as employees in small businesses or as independent merchants.

All this entry of “common” ponies into the “noble” city has angered several unicorns. Some don’t like their customs; others, their dialects; and some, even their presence.

It’s very easy to see, from the train window, several plantations. Carrots, apples, pears, tomatoes… Anything that could feed the family and guarantee the livelihood in this not-so-friendly city.

“Hey, wanna see something funny?” Flower nudged Pencil and pointed to the window.

She cast a spell on the water bucket of an outskirt Earth pony, greatly increasing the concentration of salt in the bucket’s water.

When the poor pony went to water the plantation, all plants died in front of her.

Both unicorns were amused by her suffering.

As the train went on, the landscape of humble houses was slowly replaced by larger and more luxurious houses.

Until they finally arrived at Cristalia Station of Canterlot.

“Ah, finally” - Pencil came down grumbling - “I was getting sick of being on that train.”

“We need to find Shining Crystal.”

“Who?”

“The owner of Canterlot’s jewelry store, the one wh-” Flower looked at Pencil “- Didn’t you hear anything Cloud said!?”

“Should I?”

“Disappointed, but not surprised,” Flower hit her hoof on her forehead, “Come on, follow me.”

-----

“Oh, that was amazing! We need to do that more often!” Butterwing didn’t stop talking since they left the meeting room, “You were like: ‘I am going to control your minds’, and I was like: ‘I am your leader, do what I order’, and they wer-“

“I know, I was there” Cloud replied for the ninth time. “Don’t be so confident yet, there is still a lot to do.”

“Ah, yes, sure. It was just so awesome! I can’t wait to be able to control this magic just like you do.”

“These things take time; you cannot rush if you want to do them right.” Cloud tried to calm the mare. “‘Dare, a la tempo, la tempo ke la tempo nesesita’.

It is an old kaskeo saying, it means: ‘Give, to the time, the time that the time needs’.

I will let you know when the time comes for your initiation. Until then, you must prove yourself worthy of the kaskeo mark and all the power that comes with it.”

“Yes, master.”

“Take my plan as an example of the saying, I’ve been architecting it since before Dash even knew about the existence of the factory.

Even with all the injustice and tragedy I saw, I had to control myself; I had to wait for the right time.”

When both pegasi arrived in Cloudsdale, they saw a very rare scene in the history of the city: dozens of pegasi protesting, demanding the immediate closure of the factory.

“Die, Dash, die!” is probably the most common spray-painted phrase on the factory walls.

You could see the guards’ difficulty, both royal and Cloudsdale’s, in ensuring order.

Many of them also wanted to pour all their hatred against the factory, but they had to ensure the rational solution to this problem; and not the sentimental solution.

“You know, Butterwing, one of the best ways to control the masses’ wishes is by understanding them. If you know what they want and how much they are willing to give for it, you can use it to your own advantage.

‘Konoesimento sere podere’. The more you know, the more power you have.

Now, why don’t you go down there and look for ‘konoesimento’ about the reasons for these protesters?”

“Yes, Cloud. I will do my best to find out what they want.”

“I know so, good luck with this.”

Butterwing descended near the cloud of chaos around the factory and began questioning protesters about the reasons for the uproar.

“Hi, my name is Cold Wind,” Butterwing said to a protester, “What are you protesting for?”

“For what? Don’t you know?” The protester questioned.

“I had been in distant lands in the last few months, I came back just now. I saw all this mobilization in front of the factory and came to find the reason.”

“This factory is full of bloodthirsty killers, they used children as raw material for their projects.”

“Oh, my Celestia.”

“That’s all I know. If you want to know more, it’s better to go after Yellow Storm. It was she who organized the protest.

She is a yellow pegasus with a lightning bolt in her cute mark, she is probably close to the ponies confronting the guards. There! I found her!” The protester pointed to the pegasus in question.

“Thanks for the help, I’ll see if I can talk to her.”

Butterwing made her way through the angry crowd until reaches Yellow Storm.

“Excuse me, are you Yellow Storm?”

“It depends,” Storm replied, “Who asks?”

“I’m Cold Wind, I’d like to ask you a few questions. I was told that you organized it all.

“Yeah, I am her. What do you want to know?”

“Why are you doing this protest? I was away from the city for a while, what did the factory do?”

“Wanna know what it did? It slaughtered colts and fillies to make rainbows.”

“Oh my.”

“They kidnapped the foals that failed their flight tests. Do you know that story of ‘ostracism’? It’s bullshit.

The colts were sent there and squeezed until all their color leaves them. That’s how these monsters made rainbows.

Just remembering that colorful waterfall that used to spout from the factory, I feel like throwing up.”

“Wow, but how do you know all this?”

“The head of all this made an official statement on TV. He said ‘it was time to do the right thing’, but I still think he should die on his own machine for what he did.”

“And what was his name?”

“Doctor Atmosphere.”

“I am not saying that this is not enough reason, but you seem to have something more personal with this factory.”

“And I have,” - she said tearing - “They took my son!”

“Oh, my Celestia, did he fail the test?”

“That’s the worst part, he didn’t fail any test. His name was Orion, I loved him so much.

When a pegasus broke her little wing during the test, he revolted. And he revolted even more when he saw that no one came to help her.

When his turn came, he refused. He just wanted someone to help the poor filly with a broken wing, but, instead, he was ‘ostracized’.

He was a hero, he did what any good pony would do, and what did he get in return? The death. He didn’t deserve this.

Sometimes, I feel it was my fault. If I had put “Aureum” on the birth certificate, he would have flown before Aurora and would be here with me today.

This damn Atmosphere, when I get him in my hooves, I’m going to put him in the same hell that he put my son through, that he put me through, that he put everypony, in and out the factory, through.

I will squeeze him like an apple and I will show to the entire Equestria the bright rainbow he will leave behind. I will have my revenge!”

“I had read in some old books that the magic of unicorns was used to create the rainbow’s spectra, but, at some point in history, this method was replaced by an unknown one.

Well, it seems that we already found the method.”

“Magic of unicorns?”

“Yeah, if they had not stopped creating rainbows, it probably would have been avoided.”

“Damn unicorns! The pegasi suffered so much because of a tragedy that they could have avoided.”

“They and the Earth ponies,” Butterwing commented “both benefited from a tragedy that happened only with the pegasi. If we didn’t have to supply them with color, the tragedy would be much smaller.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. Thank you, Cold Wind.”

“I thank you for the information, I was lost in this protest. See you!”

Butterwing went back to Cloud Flyer to tell him what she found out.

“And then?” Cloud asked.

“That over there is Yellow Storm,” - Butterwing pointed at her - “It was she who organized the protest, her son was killed by the factory. When she discovered the truth, she gathered a bunch of angry ponies to destroy the factory.”

“And do you think she could be useful to our cause?”

“Let’s say that I planted a little seed on her head.” Butterwing smiled an evil grin.

-----

“Gentlestallions Rich and Juice, it’s a pleasure to meet you two,” The host unicorn received them in his room, “Let me introduce myself, my name is Steel Gear, I am the CEO of Manehattan Metal Corporation.

Mister Flyer warned me that you wanted to partner with our corporation, and I am very interested. But first, why don’t I show a summary of what we do here? Please, I insist.”

Gear led the two Earth ponies. “Mister Orange Stone, please, prepare a tasty banquet. Our guests deserve the best of everything.” - He said to the butler.

They were led by Gear to a door that led to a walkway, it was possible to see the entire factory from there. “Let’s start from the beginning.

That large cauldron is responsible for melting the metallic stones, transforming them into a boiling liquid; perfect to be modeled.

The liquid is poured into a mold so that it stays in shape when it cools. The molds are transported by my workers to the cold chamber to speed up the process.

And from there, they are put on trucks; ready for delivery.” Gear finished.

From up there you could see, not only the machines, but the workers as well. Many of them with several scars caused by accidents at the factory, some even had mechanical prostheses in place of a paw.

All those employees were like red blood cells carrying metallic nutrients to the large organs of a profit-making organism.

Suddenly, a loud noise is heard. One of the wheels of the transport car broke due the weight of the transported metal.

All the metal fell on the workers carrying the cart. Quickly, other workers came to help them.

“Hey, your idiots!” Gear yelled at them “This better be in the cold chamber in 10 minutes, or I’m going to cut from your salary!”

“But boss, the cart wheel broke!” One of the workers yelled back.

“Then fix it at the end of the day! Until then, carry the metal on your back!”

The workers quickly put the molds on their back and took them to the chamber. The weight of the metal on the back and the heat of the mold, even with a thermal protection, were one of the worst things any equine has ever felt.

“Forgive my manners,” Gear said to his guests, “Please, follow me back to my office.”

“Actually, Mister Gear, we have to think about your proposal,” Lemon said, “We will be back tomorrow with the answer.”

“Won’t you stay for the banquet?”

“We would love to, but the trip we take to here was very tiring. What I want most now is just to lie in a comfortable hotel bed.”

“Oh, yes, of course. Go, converse and rest, I will be looking forward to the answer.”

“But I need to say, Mister Gear,” Rich said, “the way you impose order is fantastic. We shouldn’t have to deal with so much incompetence and insubordination, and you know how to handle them very well when they get out of the line.”

“Thank you, Mister Rich. Do you want my butler to lead you to the exit? These workers might be quite aggressive.”

“It won’t be necessary. Besides, they know that if they even touch us, their lives will be destroyed,” Lemon replied, “Furthermore, we know the way out. Good night, Mister Gear.”

“Good night, Gentlestallions.”

The two dealers left the factory. And at the factory closure time, when all the workers opened their lockers to pick up their things and go away, one of them found a mysterious letter. He didn’t think twice and start reading.

“I saw how much you and your brothers were mistreated and humiliated, I know how much you suffer day after day. No pony should be subjected to such inequine treatment.

But luckily for you, I can help to take the factory for you. It’s rightfully yours, you all worked to make it what it is today. You know you all deserve it, not those damn unicorns.

If you want to take the factory for yourself and your brothers, do what I ask: cause an ‘accident’, a big one, big enough to get ‘Mister Gear’ out of his quarters and go down to the production floor.

I know you can’t trust me, but I am your best chance.

Signed: L J.”

The worker read it with a large smile on his face.

-----

The two unicorns walked for about half an hour looking for the jewelry. Until they find one, two, three, four…

Hey, Flower, don’t you think it’s strange that there are so many jewelry stores around here?” Pencil asked Flower, “I don’t remember having so many last time I came here.”

“A bit, but why are you bothering about it?”

“Look through the window, all these dealers are Earth ponies,” - Pencil pointed to the window of one of the stores - “It’s almost impossible to see an Earth pony with so much money in Canterlot.

Actually, it’s impossible for an Earth pony to be able to deal with precious stones. Only a magic horn can deal with such small and delicate things. There is something wrong here.

I’m gonna investigate one of these ‘jewelry stores’ while you try to find the right one.”

Pencil went into the jewelry store and started looking around the store. There were several stones; precious, colored, round, large, sharp, et cetera. But one in particular caught her eye.

It was a virisila stone, usually found near volcanoes. But this one seemed a bit strange. And Pencil went to see the jeweler.

“Excuse me, sir, I couldn’t help noticing this virisila right there,” - Pencil pointed to the stone over the jewelry table - “It looks very pretty, but… I had never seen a green virisila before.”

“Oh yes, you are lucky, these are soooo rare,” said the seller, “but, luckily for you, I have this beauty, 100% natural and extracted directly in the Crystal Empire waiting for the perfect customer. Is it you?”

“Maybe. I want to give a birthday gift to my friend. She loves stones, I think it could be the perfect gift. But first, I have just a single question.”

“What is the question, madam?”

“Why are you trying to sell me a fake stone?”

“H-how!?” - The seller was shocked.

“It is not possible to obtain a green virisila naturally. And it is not found near the Crystal Empire, only in volcanic regions.”

“Well, I uhh.”

Everypony in the store started looking at them.

“And another one, virisilas are very resistant,” - Pencil pulverized the stone by hitting the hoof on it - “This one is not!”

All the ponies started throwing shade at the jeweler.

“Are the other stones, that you intended to sell to them, also fake?” She continued, “What about those who already bought? Did they just throw their money away?

I would feel betrayed if I lived here. We unicorns receive you all with open hooves to our city, and this is the way you, Earth ponies, return the kindness? Tring to trick us?”

The more she talked, the more the unicorns got angry with the jeweler.

“I knew I couldn’t trust a terrestrial,” She continued “Since you all think this is like Manehattan, why don’t you go back to there?”

The jeweler was frightened, “P-please, madam, what do you want?”

“I want you to tell to your little misleading friends that it’s time to leave. The ponies of Canterlot want you out!”

“Get out! Get out!” The unicorns inside the store began to advance against the seller. He ran out of the store and they went after him.

“Well, I think my work here is over,” Pencil told herself, and, then, went back to where Flower was.

Flower was reading the notebook that Cloud gave. “What’s up? Did you find where is it?” Pencil asked her partner.

“Yeah, it’s called ‘Shining Crystal Jewelry’ and it’s in the center of the city.” She replied.

“Putting his own name on the story… what a creativity.”

“Why there is a crowd running after that Earth pony?” Flower pointed to the jewelry store that Pencil had entered.

“It’s just my last work. I don’t think it will be that hard to make the ponies of this city hate the Earth ponies.”

Both started laughing and then went to the right jewelry store.

Upon arriving in the city center, they came across a jewelry store with a broken window and letters missing from its board, which now read “Jewelry Shining Cry”.

Overturned shelves, broken glass, missing jewels; this was the state the store was in. When the owner noticed them, he tried to receive them, but his sadness and discouragement were clearly visible.

“Jewelry Shining Crystal, what can I do for you today?” The owner went to greet them, “Forgive the condition of the store, some vandals passed here earlier… I had not time to clean it yet.”

“Vandals?” Flower asked.

“Yeah, the damn Fire Stones. They came early, broke my store and stole several jewelries.”

“And why don’t you call the guards?” Pencil asked.

“And for what? Most guards are either bought or afraid of them. You both don’t seem to be from Canterlot, otherwise you would have heard about them.

In short: they are a gang of Earth ponies; experts in theft, falsification and extortion. And I have to, somehow, give 100,000 bits tomorrow, otherwise they will break what is left of my store… and break me too.

I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I am Shining Crystal, the owner of this, for now, jewelry store. Nice to meet you two.”

“I am Dead Flower and this is my friend Grey Pencil, we were sent to help you with this problem.”

“Oh yes, Mister Flyer spoke about you. It’s a pleasure and a relief to see you here… but I think you arrived a bit late.”

“You said they will back here tomorrow, maybe we can help you teach them a lesson.”

“It would be wonderful, but I doubt they will leave me alone for long. Very few have the courage to try to defend themselves from them.

“I am pretty sure that if we could convince at least a third of the unicorns to have the courage to fight against them, they would no longer be a problem. But everypony is so afraid of them.”

“So why don’t we convince the citizens to fight them back? When those vandals get back here tomorrow, we finish them off and show everypony that they can be beaten.

I can help you to protect the store while Pencil convinces everypony to revolt. We have to show that Canterlot does not want the presence of these violent Earth ponies.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’m sick of having to tolerate the violence that these Earth ponies bring, I want them out of the city. Actually, I think all the unicorns of this city want it.”

“That’s the spirit!” Flower shouted, “We will meet tomorrow morning, be ready to beat them up.”

“I certainly will be.”

-----

“Butterwing, one of my informants contacted me,” Cloud said to his apprentice, “Apparently the royal guards are having trouble interrogating a certain prisoner.

They requested a new interrogator, Stone Wings. They say that she is the best of all Equestria.”

“And what do you want me to do?” Butterwing asked.

“I want you to find a way to go to the interrogation in her place. This prisoner is extremely important. It is essential that we get the information this prisoner has.

The prisoner has names of ponies that can end with everything we are trying to do. We have to find and make them disappear before the police has a chance to interrogate them too.

I believe you will be able to do this work. And once it is done, you will be even closer to your initiation. The interrogation will be this morning, so you better hurry.

Here, take it,” - Cloud gave an amulet to Butterwing - “This amulet will allow you to perform some spells. You just need to Imaginate and say what you want in kaskeo and the amulet will take care of the rest.

Stone Wings usually works in pairs. If you want to keep the disguise, it’s better to choose a partner. I recommend you choose one of our subordinates.”

“I already have an idea of who to choose, hehe.”

-----

At night, Flower and Pencil were sleeping in a hotel near the jewelry store, until a bright glow woke Flower. She got out of the bed and went to see what was that strange glow.

It was the notebook, she opened it to read, “Dead Flower, come to the alley on the side of the hotel. I need your help with an extremely important work. And come alone.”

She left her room, went down the stairs and out the back door. She reached the alley and found Butterwing.

“Miss Butterwing, what brings you here so late at night?” Flower asked in a sleepy voice.

“I want your help to interrogate a prisoner. She is going to be interrogated by a pegasus named Stone Wings, we need to interrogate the prisoner in her place.”

Butterwing saw Flower’s sleepy face and cast a spell on her, “Renovare Enerjia.” Flower felt more awake than ever, she was ready for anything.

This kaskeo spell will keep you awake long enough for you to help me with the interrogation and with that jeweler’s defense.

But after it, you will have to sleep for a long time. Speaking of time, we don’t have much. We need to interrogate the her before Stone Wings.”

“And who are we going to interrogate, Miss Butterwing?”

“Dash…”